Pipe-wrench.



No. 874,839. q PATENTED DEC. 24, 1907.

4 0. H. FOSTER. I

PIPE WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR; 21, 1907.

avwentoz Wit" eooeo a 6 attain rm: pwRR/s Psrsks cm. WASHINGTON, n. c.

engagement for adjustment.

CHARLES H. FOSTER, OF WEST DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

PIPE-WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 24, 1907.

Application filed March 21. 1907- Serial No. 363.696.

T 0 all whom it may concern,

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. FOSTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at West Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State ofMinnesota, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pipe-VVrenches,of which the following is a specification.

- This invention relates to pipe wrenches, its object being to provide acomparatively simple, strong, durable and inexpensive device of thischaracter in which the movable jaw may be quickly adjusted for pipes ofvarying diameters, and wherein effective provision is made for lockingthe movable jaw in any desired position along the shank and throwing itout of engagement therewith for ready and rapid adjustment.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 is a side elevation of the wrench,with the head or sliding sleeve of the movable jaw locked in adjustedposition. Fig. 2 is a view showing the parts in corresponding positionwith the head or sleeve tilted out of locking Fig. 3 is a back view ofthe wrench.

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates the wrench shank provided at itsrear end with a handle 2 and formed or provided at its forward end witha fixed jaw 3 and along one of its longitudinal edges with a series ofrack teeth or notches 4.

A movable or swinging aw 6 is provided forcooperation with the jaw 3,and is pivotally mounted at its rear end upon the upper front portion ofa sliding head or sleeve 7 embracing the shank 1. The head or sleeve maybe of any desired construction, but, as shown, comprises a pair ofspaced side plates 8 connected at one side by a bridge wall 9 arrangedadjacent the rack teeth 4 and provided at its rear end withaseries ofteeth 10 to interlock with the said teeth 4.

The sleeve is adapted to be thrown into and out of locking engagementwith the shank by a tilting motion, and is provided with across pin 11extending between the plates 8 t0 pivotally support the jaw, which pin11 is located at the upper forward end of the sleeve, or on a diagonalline opposite the locking teethlO, located at the lower rear end of thesleeve. Fi 1 shows thenormal position of the parts, from which it willbe seen that when the head or sleeve lies at right angles to the shankthe teeth 10 intertion, thus maintaining the jaw 6 at a desired relativeposition to the jaw 3.

The upper portion of the head or sleeve 9 is slotted or left open, asindicated at 12, for the free movement of a lug or short arm 13 formingan extension from the stem of the movable jaw beyond the pivot 11, andarranged in line with the pin 1 1 and between the same and the rear oruntoothed edge of the shank is a guide and stop pin 14 adapted to engagethe shank to guide the sleeve in its movements, as well as to limit itstilting unlocking action.

A cross pin 15 extends between the plates 8 at the upper rear corner ofthe sleeve and supports a controlling spring 16. This spring consists ofa strip of metal bent to form a coil 17 engaging the pin 15, a springarm 18 engaging the lug 13 of the mo vable jaw and a spring arm 19hearing against the rear edge of the shank. The arm 18 exerts pressureupon the lug 13 to hold the jaw 3 in normal gripping position and ermita limited outward movement thereo which movement is restricted by a stoppin 20, while the spring arm 19 exerts reverse pressure to normally drawthe sleeve to throw the locking teeth 10 into engagement with the rackteeth4.

In operation, the jaw 6 has the usual pivotal movement for adjustmentwithin a determined limit to cooperate with the jaw 3 in gripping a pipeor other object, the yielding movement of said jaw being restricted bythe pin 20 lying in the path of movement of the lug 13 and spring. arm18. To adjust the movable jaw toward or away from the jaw 3, the head orsleeve 7 is tilted at a downward and rearward angle against the pressureof the spring arm 19, which movement will be limited by the stop pin 14,whereby the teeth 10 will be thrown out of engagement with teeth 4 andthe sleeve adjusted to the position shown in Fig. 2, whereupon it may beconveniently slid along the shank on the pin 14 as a guide to adjust themovable jaw relatively to the fixed jaw as desired. When the sleeve isreleased, the spring 19 automatically restores it to normal position andlooks it against movement. For convenience in tilting the sleeve therear edges of the plates 8 are preferably cut away to form a fingerrecess 21 and a bearing shoulder 22, thus providing for its freemanipulation.

It will be observed that by mounting the lock with the teeth 4, and thussecurely fix spring upon the upper rear corner of the said sleeve frommovement ineither direcsliding and tilting s eeve and arranging thespring arms 18 and 19 to diverge throughout their length, a large extentof pivotal movement of the sleeve is permitted. It will further beobserved that lug 13 is formed by cutting away the lower rear end of theshank of the swinging jaw 6, and lies above and in rear of thelongitudinal line or plane of the pivot 11, by which a seat or recess isformed upon the inner side of the lug to receive the free end of thespring arm 18, thus allowing said spring arm and the swinging jawcontrolled thereby to have a comparatively wide range of movement.Furthermore, the diverging arrangement of the spring arms 18 and 19 andthe form and arrangement of the lug provides a space between the freeend of the spring arm 18 and the shank 1 for the arrangement of the stoppin 20, by which the outward swinging movement of the movable jaw iscontrolled and an undue yielding action thereof prevented.

I wish it to be understood that the fulcrum of the spring is below thefulcrum 11 of the jaw 6, it follows that the normal tendency of j thespring is to exert a pressure on the shank of the jaw 3 that will holdthe said shank to ward the movable jaw 6.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

Awrench comprising a shank with a toothed fixed jaw having longitudinalteeth, a sleeve having teeth slidably mounted on the shank and servingto contact with the longitudinal teeth of the fixed jaw, a movable jawpivotally mounted at its rear end upon the upper front corner of thesleeve, said movable jaw having a short armextending below its pivotalpoint and provided with a curved recess, a cross-pin secured upon theupper rear corner of said sleeve, a coiled spring mounted on said pinand having diverging arms of different lengths, the shorter one of whichcontacts with the fixed jaw, and the longer arm being extended upwardlyand having its terminal curved to contact with the curvature of theshort arm of the movable jaw, and said fulcrum of said spring beingarranged below the fulcrum of the movable jaw to permit of the normaltendency of the spring to exert a greater pressure on the shank of thefixed jaw, a stop pi for engaging the shank of the fixed jaw to limitthe movement of the sleeve, and a stop pin for engaging the curvature ofthe longer arm of the spring to hold the fixed jaw in normal grippingposition and also permit of a limited outward movement of the same.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES H. FOSTER. ll itnesses ALBERT L. JOHNSON, CARL J. JoHNsoN.

